250 C. PARKINSON ON THE DROITWICH 
in early days was only such as could be worked at or near the sur- 
face. It was not till 1725 that salt-springs below the gypsum bands 
were discovered; and Dr. Nash, the historian, states that for a long 
time fully nine tenths of the natural supply ran to waste through 
the Salwarpe into the Severn. In 1779 one Richard Norris sank a 
well through the Red Marl and gypsum, striking a brine-spring, 
apparently 80 feet from the surface. With such force did the water 
rush upwards that either one or two workmen lost their lives, being 
unable to escape the flowing spring; the force of the water is, I 
think, a point to be noted. Of this well Dr. Nash gives the 
following rough section :— 
ES (als NE AAR Beer o eee crac an Mould. 
AD ae. Ye ao nS ae AT Marl 
AQF oh eee ance eee eae eee Tale 
1D INCHES ts. 0 ore hee oren eee Brine-river. 
To Teet 65 ae AE ee Tale. 
MRP ERAGARR Sone Acme SESCAe Rock-salt. 
The tale mentioned is no doubt gypsum, which occurs in veins of 
different thickness in the Red Marls. 
Within the last twenty-five or thirty years the character of the 
brine-pits has completely changed. The old pits, Walker’s, Walwyn’s, 
Romney’s, Stuckey’s, and Farley’s, named by Mr. Horner, F.R.S., in 
his paper *, are entirely lost sight of. ven twenty-five years ago 
the brine welled up to the surface in certain pits, a great quantity 
running to waste. It is now pumped up by engines from a depth of 
210-220 feet in Droitwich, and at Stoke works from a depth of from 
800 to 1000 feet, showing a remarkable difference, when we consider 
the fact of the two places being within 5 miles. At the surface, 
therefore, we find no traces of brine at the present time, while many 
of the old pits are either closed or abandoned. No doubt the supply 
of brine nearer the surface failed as soon as steam-pumps tapped 
the lower source of the springs. About 36 borings have been 
worked, but a few only remain in full activity. 
The section I now give may be taken as a representative one in 
the immediate valley of Droitwich, since the newer machinery has 
been used in boring and pumping. ‘The area is limited where a 
sufficient supply of brine can be reached; it is, indeed, within the 
narrow strip before mentioned, 300 yards wide, running through the 
centre of the town, where the signs of subsidence are most evident ; 
a natural reservoir, 210-220 feet below the surface, has been disco- 
vered here. Repeated borings have clearly proved where the 
deepest cavity exists, which gradually shelves off at each side, 
while, outside of this area, a boring of over 300 feet} fails to 
touch either a cavity or brine-springs, though several feet of rock- 
salt are found in places. 
My section commences with a black peaty soil followed by quick- 
sands and gravel base ; the black alluvial soils are only met with in 
the valley watered by the river Salwarpe. ‘The quicksands are 
* Leonard Horner, “ Account of the Brine-springs at Droitwich,” Trans. 
Geol. Soe. ser. 1, vol. ii. p. 94. 
t I think a deeper boring would probably reach rock-salt. 
